JASPER
The Greenwood Christian baseball team played a difficult regular-season schedule this year to prepare for postseason battles like the one it faced Saturday afternoon.
And it nearly paid dividends.
The Cougars faced a daunting task in the semifinal round of the Class A Jasper Semistate against No. 1 Barr-Reeve, and they went toe-to-toe with the Vikings. But Barr-Reeve came up with a few more clutch moments than GCA did and pulled out a 3-1 win at Jasper’s Ruxer Field.
After the game, Greenwood Christian coach Douglas Hagist told his players he was proud of them and to keep their heads up.
“The No. 1-ranked team in the state, 3-1 game. We were in it, and we proved they belong here,” Hagist said. “Barr-Reeve’s coach was very complimentary of them, said that’s the best team they faced all year. To hear that from the No. 1-ranked team in 1A, I think that says something about the boys.”
GCA (15-13-1) got in early trouble, as senior pitcher Trey Harney walked the first two batters of the game and then committed a throwing error to load the bases. But Harney pulled an escape act, inducing a pop fly and striking out the next two hitters to keep Barr-Reeve (28-3) off the scoreboard.
That moment set the tone for the rest of the game — largely controlled by the pitchers. Both Harney and Barr-Reeve sophomore Seth Wagler kept opposing hitters at bay for most of the afternoon. Both faced traffic at various points during the game, but it never fazed them. They navigated those situations with poise.
The Vikings broke through in the third inning when a Harney pickoff attempt to third base got away. That run became earned when the next hitter, senior Colton Stoll, singled. Stoll scored after another throwing error on a two-out bunt attempt to make it 2-0.
The Cougars got a run back in the bottom of the third on a Barr-Reeve miscue. Juniors Charlie Overton and Colton Flint hit back-to-back singles with one out, and Vikings bobbled the ball on Flint’s, allowing Overton to score.
But that inning ended with a runner on third, one of three such innings for GCA.
“We let a few (opportunities) go,” Hagist said. “Needed a timely hit. But still, can’t take anything away from them, or us. Their pitcher dialed it up when he had to and did his job. We just fell a little bit short.”
The Cougars, indeed, had difficulty squaring up Wagler. He gave up the one unearned run on five hits — all singles — and one hit batter with four strikeouts.
But Harney nearly matched him. After the two-run third, Barr-Reeve allowed just two baserunners over the next three innings. But the Vikings added an insurance run in the seventh on an RBI single by junior Donnie Miller.
In total, Harney allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits, two walks, and two hit batters, and he racked up 10 strikeouts.
The Indiana Wesleyan commit gave the Cougars a real chance to win.
“Trey did an outstanding job,” Hagist said. “Threw 115 pitches, I think, solid all the way through. He got off to a slow start that first inning, and for us to get out of that without giving up a run was crazy impressive. Really impressed with him.”
GCA’s other singles came from senior shortstop Jacob Potter, junior Colton Flint and sophomore Caden Camden.
Barr-Reeve advanced to the semistate championship Saturday evening against Shakamak. Hagist knows his squad was a few plays away from playing on, but he reiterated his pride for the Cougars and the season they had.
“I think we were fairly even,” Hagist said. “A couple breaks went their way today. Any other time, those breaks could’ve gone our way. I think we were prepared. The season prepared us. These kids, they loved the hard schedule because they had to work their butts off all year long. I think that’s what prepared us to make a little run here.”
